Tractor-trailer plows sedan in wreck

Tuesday

Nov 6, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 6, 2012 at 8:58 PM

Trucker swerves after driver of pick-up truck allegedly cuts him off

Jessika Morgan

LA GRANGE — Tiffany Nicole Smith and her 2-year-old son were struck in their vehicle in a restaurant’s parking lot after an 18-wheeler jumped a median on U.S. 70 East and Jim Sutton Road Tuesday morning.

The pair was airlifted from the B.J.’s Grill parking lot to Vidant Medical Center, officials said. No updates about their condition were immediately released.

The back door behind the driver’s side of the Smith’s Kia was smashed backwards, displaying the child’s car seat. The rear window was completely shattered.

Officials on site said she was loading the car.

Obert Lee Hillis, the truck driver who was extremely shaken up, was unharmed. He was apparently cut off by a gold pick-up truck and was forced to swerve right to avoid colliding with the truck.

The driver of the pick-up, Fred Lee Green, declined to comment.

A video recording at the BP gas station across the street from B.J.’s showed the pick-up truck was in the far left lane before quickly merging to the far right lane. The 18-wheeler seemed to be right behind, braked and swerved right, landing in the B.J.’s lot.

“It pulled right in front of the big truck,” said witness Sonny Wade. “He locked it up. His tires were smoking and then jumped the median, went across the ditch and hit the car.”

Wade watched the accident from the BP.

“The girl was putting a little boy in a child care seat in the back seat and didn’t ever get the child in the seat,” he said. “The little boy was trapped beneath the rear wheels of the trailer. They had to jack it up to get him out.”

Officials said the truck was headed to Sanderson Farms to pick up and deliver food to New York for disaster relief.

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter at JessikaMorgan.